If you’re craving a big fresh salad, there’s no need to wait until summer produce comes back around. These warm salad recipes use winter veggies like kale and Brussels sprouts for a tasty base, then add seasonal toppings like roasted sweet potato, sliced apples and pomegranate seeds. Recipes like our Roasted Butternut Squash Salad and our Kale & Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Avocado Caesar Dressing are so flavor-packed, you’ll be scraping your plate.
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood, Food Stylist: Sally McKay
This roasted butternut squash salad, with its caramelized butternut squash, tender kale and a zingy dressing, makes the perfect dish. Whether paired with roasted chicken or seared steak or enjoyed on its own, it brings a balance of sweet and savory to the table, making it a crowd-pleaser at any gathering. Feel free to swap out the lacinato kale for curly kale or try another winter squash like honeynut or delicata in place of the butternut.
Kale & Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Avocado Caesar Dressing
This salad combines the flavors of a Caesar salad with tender green lacinato kale and the crunch of raw, shaved Brussels sprouts. The brown-butter breadcrumbs add additional crunch and a nutty, toasted flavor. Serve with grilled chicken for an added boost of protein.
Three Bean Salad
Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Joseph Wanek
This three-bean salad is a wonderful addition to any meal. Rich in fiber, folate, iron and potassium, beans complement a heart-healthy diet and are also a great source of plant-based protein and iron for anyone following a vegetarian diet. Bring this colorful, healthy dish to a barbecue, serve it as an appetizer salad or side dish, and even pack it for lunch.
Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Balsamic Vinaigrette
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Addelyn Evans
This beet salad with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette is flavor-packed, blending earthy beets, tangy balsamic vinegar and creamy goat cheese. Oranges lend a citrusy brightness, while arugula adds a peppery kick. Versatile and satisfying, this healthy beet salad complements any meal. Enjoy it as a side or turn it into a main dish topped with grilled chicken or roasted tofu.
Roasted Squash & Lentil Kale Salad
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Christina Brockman
This squash lentil salad packs 14 grams of fiber and features plenty of kale, a powerful prebiotic that helps set the stage for a healthy gut. This salad can be assembled in a Mason jar so you can prep it the night before for a healthy, grab-and-go lunch the next day.
Roasted Broccoli Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf
The vibrant colors and flavors in this crowd-pleasing roasted broccoli salad make it a must-have side dish for the holidays. For a twist, you can easily swap out the dried cranberries for raisins, chopped dried apricots or even pomegranate seeds to suit your taste or the season.
Massaged Kale Salad with Roasted Squash & Chickpeas
Photography: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Kelsey Moylan, Prop stylist: Gabriel Greco
This kale salad is piled high with roasted butternut squash, red onion and toasty chickpeas. The kale starts to break down as you “massage” it, soaking up the lemony dressing. Za’atar, a Middle Eastern seasoning with dried herbs, sesame seeds and sumac, adds a bright, earthy taste. You can swap it out for chili powder for a slightly different flavor profile.
Cabbage Crunch Salad with Cider Vinaigrette
Photographer: Jacob Fox, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Breanna Ghazali
This crisp and fresh cabbage-apple salad features carrots, walnuts and creamy Gorgonzola cheese. Allowing the cabbage to sit before serving helps develop the flavor and soften the cabbage. While any type of cabbage will work well, tender cabbage like napa will need less time to soften, while a sturdier cabbage like red or green cabbage will take a bit longer.
Massaged Kale Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato & Black Beans
Loaded with roasted sweet potatoes and shallots, black beans, quinoa, feta and pepitas, this salad makes for a satisfying meatless meal. Not only does massaging the kale tenderize it, but it also helps the greens absorb more of the bright dressing.
Roasted Vegetable Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette
Photographer: Hannah Hufham, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Phoebe Hausser
This roasted vegetable salad is a vibrant and hearty dish that showcases the best cool-weather root veggies and greens: sweet potato, celery root, beets and kale. The simple vinaigrette brings everything together, with goat cheese adding a creamy finish. Feel free to swap out any of the root vegetables for another of your choice. Butternut squash, turnips or carrots would all work well.
Beet, Mandarin & Farro Salad
Multicolored beets make this farro salad a pretty addition to any table, but if you’re short on time, store-bought cooked beets (found in the refrigerated produce section) are just as delicious here.
Beet & Grapefruit Salad
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless
This beet-grapefruit salad is an antioxidant-rich seasonal side that’s both visually stunning and nutritious. The earthy sweetness of roasted beets pairs beautifully with the bright, tangy burst of grapefruit. Beets are rich in inflammation-fighting phytochemicals, while grapefruit is loaded with vitamin C and antioxidants that support immune health. Red, golden or Chioggia beets all work well here.
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Burrata
This beautiful butternut squash salad with creamy burrata cheese and peppery arugula is perfect for fall entertaining. Feel free to use precut butternut squash to make this recipe easier. If you can find pomegranates, the arils add a bright pop of color and flavor to this healthy salad, but it’s just as good—and almost as impressive looking—without them.
Roasted Cabbage Caesar Salad with Chicken
Photographer: Stacy k. Allen, Props: Christina Brockman, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf
This warm and inviting salad swaps crunchy romaine lettuce for sweet roasted cabbage in a fun twist on Caesar salad. To make this main-dish cabbage salad vegetarian, opt for vegetarian or vegan Worcestershire, leave out the anchovy paste from the dressing, and use cubed tofu in place of the chicken.
Quinoa Power Salad
Make this satisfying salad in the evening and enjoy one portion for dinner, then pack the remaining portion for lunch the next day. Loaded with protein- and fiber-rich ingredients like chicken, sweet potato and quinoa plus power greens, this meal is nutrition-packed!
Make-Ahead Cabbage Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Hannah Greenwood, Food Stylist: Sally McKay
This make-ahead cabbage salad is the perfect dish that only gets better with time. As it sits, the flavors meld together, with the crisp cabbage and tender, nutty farro soaking up the tangy dressing. It’s an ideal choice for meal prep or entertaining, as it not only holds up well but also improves with time, making your life easier and delivering a delicious meal.
Winter Cobb Salad
This seasonal twist on traditional Cobb salad swaps in kale for lettuce and spiced butternut squash for chicken but keeps the essential avocado, blue cheese, bacon and egg.
Carolina Gelen’s Shaved Cauliflower Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette & Parmesan
Photographed by Nico Schinco/Courtesy of Clarkson Potter Publishers
In her new cookbook, Carolina Gelen writes: “Some children grew up with fruit plates as a snack; I grew up with crisp, salted cauliflower to nibble on. My mom would always buy a bigger cauliflower than needed for a recipe since we’d munch on pretty much half of it before cooking. Heavily inspired by my mother’s cauliflower snacking plates, this simple shaved cauliflower tossed in a lemon vinaigrette was born. In a world where cauliflower seems to get relegated to replacing one carb or another, there’s something refreshing in letting cauliflower be its true self. Thinly shaved to highlight its pleasant crunch, the cauliflower may have a modest flavor but it’s perfectly paired with the punchy vinaigrette in this chic, monochromatic salad.”
Fall Chopped Salad with Spinach, Butternut Squash, Apples & Cheddar
Who says spinach salads are only for spring? Use autumn’s tender crop of fresh spinach and other seasonal vegetables to make this fall salad with roasted butternut squash, apples, cheddar and pecans. This colorful and healthy salad would be a wonderful addition to your Thanksgiving menu, but there’s no reason to save it for holidays—serve it along with chicken or pork for a healthy weeknight dinner, or turn it into a main course by adding some chickpeas or chopped chicken or turkey.
Winter Wedge Salad
Photographer: Grant Webster, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Lexi Juhl,
Crisp iceberg lettuce wedges are sprinkled with festive pomegranate seeds and drizzled with a creamy dressing in this winter version of a classic wedge salad. We’ve switched out the usual blue cheese for goat cheese, while preserving the savory crumbled bacon on top as a tribute to the original. For a variation, try replacing the iceberg wedges with halved romaine hearts.
Apple-Cranberry Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese
The tangy-sweet dressing in this spinach salad beautifully amplifies the apples and cranberries—and the creamy goat cheese transforms it into the perfect salad. If you can’t find Pink Lady apples, any sweet, crisp apple is a worthy substitute. Want to make this salad a main meal? Top with some rotisserie chicken, chickpeas or tofu.
Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Almonds, Olives & Feta
Photographer: Jake Sternquist, Food Stylist: Annie Probst, Prop Stylist: Joseph Wanek
The combination of roasted cauliflower with crunchy toasted almonds, briny olives and tangy feta creates a well-balanced salad that’s perfect as a side dish or a light main course mixed with cooked farro or spelt.
Apple, Fig & Brussels Sprouts Salad
Salad dressing made from sweet and mellow white balsamic vinegar balances out the assertive greens and Brussels sprouts in this healthy winter salad. If you have one handy, a small mandoline makes it easy to slice the Brussels and apple. To make it a dinner salad, top with shrimp or chicken.
Winter Salad with Toasted Walnuts
This salad was one of the favorites chosen from over 1,000 salad recipes for our 30th anniversary issue. In 2004, Deborah Madison waxed poetic about winter ingredients, particularly nuts. “In the chill air of winter, nuts move up to center stage as do their warming, substantial, golden oils—so good with winter salad greens and vegetables, such as shaved fennel, all of which are likely to end up in a salad together,” she says. Madison suggested using a mix of lettuces that balance each other here—a mild, tender variety, such as Boston, with a more intense and sturdy green, such as escarole, for instance.
Roasted Cabbage Salad with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette
Ali Redmond
This roasted cabbage is dressed with a bright and flavorful lemon-garlic vinaigrette. It goes with everything, from chicken and steak to tofu and grain bowls. If you already have your grill on, you can grill the cabbage wedges instead, which will impart a delightful smoky flavor. You can use red or green cabbage—even Savoy or napa works!
